Baggage Insurance for Air Passengers

Baggage insurance - unnecessary expense or truly useful service? Let's look into this question.

Loss or damage to luggage is not as rare as it might seem at first glance. If you fly often, you've probably already encountered such problems. We have already written about what to do if your luggage is lost in a separate article. Now let's talk more about the financial side of the issue. If 21 days have passed since your arrival, your luggage is officially considered lost. Consequently, from this moment you can contact the airline for compensation. The amount you will be paid is strictly regulated by international agreements: the Montreal or Warsaw Convention. It makes no sense to assure an airline employee that you were carrying an expensive item and that it was lost forever due to their fault.

The amount you receive depends not on the value, but on the weight of the luggage.

The only exception is if you registered your luggage with a declared value. If the airline operates under the Warsaw Convention, for each kilogram of luggage you will receive the equivalent of $20 in the airline's currency. In Russia, this is about 600 rubles. Most foreign airlines operate in accordance with the Montreal Convention. In this case, the passenger receives up to 1000 Special Drawing Rights, i.e., up to $1500 USD. Let's consider a loss with a specific example: The airline lost your luggage weighing 23 kg. For each kilogram, you will receive 600 rubles, i.e., 600×23 = 13,800 rubles. 13,800 rubles are unlikely to compensate for the costs associated with luggage loss. What to do in this case? Buy baggage insurance! On the kupi.com website, we offer all passengers purchasing an airline ticket to also buy baggage insurance from "Alfa-Strakhovanie". It costs only 150 rubles for a one-way flight and 240 rubles for a round-trip flight. In case of loss or damage, the insurance company will pay an additional 600 rubles per kg. If you insure your luggage, you will receive not 13,800, but 27,600 rubles (13,800 from the airline + 13,800 from the insurance company). The maximum compensation amount under the insurance is 20,000 rubles. You will receive compensation not only in case of loss, but also damage. In case of baggage damage, you will receive additional compensation from the insurance company in the amount of 300 rubles per kg. The maximum compensation amount is also 20,000 rubles. As you can see, even with insurance, the compensation amount may not cover your losses. The solution in this case is one - do not check expensive items as luggage.